


A Friendly College Community

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Derek is a little oblivious, M/M, Pining, Professor Derek, Radio Host Stiles, Scientist Derek, Stiles is a little crazy, Welcome to Night Vale AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-05 14:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1820989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The crazy kid is about to be on the radio again!" A Welcome to Night Vale AU with a twist. </p>
<p>Or the one where Stiles is the host of this bizarre on-campus radio show and falls in love with the new professor in the science department.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

NYU wasn't Derek's first choice of college, hell it wasn't even his second, but they were the first decent college to offer him a pro fessorship and he wasn't about to turn an opportunity like that down. He was one of the youngest professors there and  they still gave him a lab and three graduate  students.  He actually had a chance to study what he wanted to study, the administration had been very impressed with his thesis . He didn't even care that he had to teach classes all the time as well. 

Derek's never been in charge of other people, so he isn't quite sure what to do the first day he unlocks the door to his lab and finds three wide-eyed kids  -kids to him, in reality they couldn't have been younger than 22- standing outside of it.  They introduce themselves, Erica is the girl, the curly haired kid is Isaac, and Boyd is the strong, silent one. They stumble into the lab with awed expressions and keep calling him "Dr. Hale." no matter how many times he tells them to call him Derek. 

He tells them to help him check over the equipment, to make sure there are no cracks in the glassware or chemicals placed near chemicals they should never be close to. They spend hours meticulously looking over everything from the vials of mercury to the pencils in the coffee cup under the  sink that's  next to the squeaky window.

Around two in the afternoon, Erica checks her watch and dives towards her backpack. "The crazy kid is about to be on the radio again!" She yells and Isaac and Boyd stop what they're doing to crowd around her. She pulls out a handheld radio and some speakers and starts setting them up before looking at Derek with a guilty expression. 

"I don't care what you listen to as long as you do your work." Derek scowls at them and goes back to outlining his first lesson plan. His very first class as a professor is in the morning and he would probably bury himself alive if he embarrassed himself. 

The radio crackle s  to life a minute later and a  man's  voice c o me s  over the speakers , talking in deep ominous tones. 

" A friendly college community  where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep.  Welcome to NYU. "

Derek snorts quietly. T he man was obviously trying to go for a mysterious feel, but he just sounded like he was trying too hard.  T he man's words were followed by a shitty music track that sounded like it was recorded in his dorm room. The voice continues , in a lighter, friendlier tone than before.

_ " Hello, listeners.  To start things off, I’ve been asked to read this brief notice: The  Student Council announces the opening of a new Dog Park on the edge of the quad, near the Starbucks. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the Dog Park. People are not allowed in the Dog Park _ _."_  

"Oh my god." Erica suppresses  giggles and Isaac shushes her. Derek stares at the radio in confusion. 

The voice's tone gets more serious and more threatening with each word. _"_ _ It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the Dog Park .  Do not approach them. Do not approach the Dog Park."  _

"What the hell?" Derek asks, but is immediately shushed by Erica, who flaps her hands at him without even looking.  The voice moves on to a different story. 

_ " Old Woman  Morell , out near the Freshman dorm, says the Angels revealed themselves to her. Said they were ten feet tall, radiant, and one of them was black. Said they helped her with various  research  papers. One of them  sharpened a pencil  for her . She’s offering to sell the  pencil , which has been touched by an Angel. It was the black Angel, if that sweetens the pot for anyone. If you’re interested, contact Old Woman  Morell . She’s out near the Freshman dorm. " _

"Is this guy high?" Derek asks Boyd, who  i s the only one who had actually returned to working. 

" Dunno . Probably. Either that or he has a really weird imagination. He's on the radio every day though." Boyd shrugs. 

"Is he a student here?" Derek asks, but Boyd just shrugs again.

"No one knows who he is. He has a Twitter page for the show, but it's full of even weirder stuff than the show."

"Weird." Derek says and elects to ignore the radio for now while he finishes his lesson plan. He really wants to get it out of the way so that he can start on some of the experiments he has planned. 

The man starts talking about someone new in town, but Derek can't be bothered to listen until he hears the word scientist. He looks up sharply at that and finds Erica and Isaac staring at him.

_ " But why now? Why here? And just what does he plan to do with all those breakers and humming electrical instruments in that lab he’s renting — the one next to the library ? _ _"_  

"Holy shit, he's talking about you!" Erica squeals.

"He hasn't talked about anyone like that since the Lydia thing." Isaac says wonderingly. Derek stares at them, for the first time since they turned on the radio they were no longer paying attention to it. It was spouting off some weird stuff about helicopters.

"Why is he talking about me?" Derek asks, eyes wide. Erica and Isaac just smirk at him.  Derek feels his face heat up and he clears his throat. "All right then, you guys get back to work." He tries to sound comm anding. "You can multi-task, right?" He glares and they rush to obey.

It's only his first day on campus and everything is already more bizarre than he could have imagined.

-

Derek's first lesson is at 9 in the morning, basically one of the worst times to have a class because the students were half asleep and no one wanted to be there. It didn't help that this was a freshman level core class, so everyone there was either a freshman who didn't care about the subject, or a procrastinating upper-classman who cared even less. 

Despite this, Derek wanted to teach them as much as their brains were willing to soak up in the span of four months, so he starts off the class telling them exactly this. The students seem wary at first, like he's trying to trick them, but once he tells them that attendance won't be a grade, they  warm up to him fast.

After class a few students introduce themselves and Derek tries his best to learn their names. An hour later, the only one he can remember is a kid named Stiles who told him that he finished his core classes a year ago and was taking his class for fun. Then he winked at him. Winked! The nerve.

Derek makes his way back to the lab slowly and decides to detour by the quad. When he gets there, everything looks normal and exactly what a college quad should look like, full of students and loud talking. There  is  no dog park or hooded figures.  Well, except for the stoner kids next that are hanging out under the walkway to the dining hall. They are all wearing hoodies and about ninety percent of them had their hoods up. 

Derek gets to his lab at 11 and Isaac is waiting for him. Erica is in class and Boyd is not a morning person, so his shif t doesn't start until two. Isaac hands him a cup of coffee and they enter the lab in companionable silence. 

Derek wants to do a few test experiments, to triple check that everything works properly, so he spends the morning and early afternoon instructing Isaac in them. Erica shows up after lunch and Derek puts her to work with another experiment. 

When Boyd gets there, he sets up the radio before going to help Erica. Almost immediately, the crappy title music is playing. 

_ " A commercial airliner flying through local airspace disappeared today, only to reappear in the  gymnasium during basketball practice, disrupting practice quite badly. The jet roared through the small gym for only a fraction of a second. And before it could strike any players or structure, it vanished again." _

Derek wondered briefly how the man came up with this stuff, but he didn't allow himself to get too distracted. 

_ " That new scientist — we now know i s named Derek -"  Derek's head jerked up at the same time as everyone else's.  " had a class this morning . He has a square jaw, and teeth like a military cemetery. His hair is perfect, and we all hate, and despair, and love that perfect hair in equal measure. " _

Derek c an  feel his face heating up as Erica started giggling. He ducks his head and tries to concentrate on his work. 

_ " Derek told us that we are  by far  the most scientifically interesting community in the U.S., and he had come to study just what is going on around here. He grinned, and everything about him was perfect, and I fell in love instantly. " _

"What the hell?" Derek asks quietly. He never said that.   He's confused and embarrassed and choosing to ignore that last part  because he would probably spontaneously combust if he thought about it too hard.

" Awww ..." Isaac coos. "He's got a crush on you!" 

"Shut up." Derek says and Isaac coughs and looks away. "I'm going to grab something to eat." He stalks out of the lab, his lab coat billowing dramatically behind him. 

Derek goes to the café on the other side of the library and gets into the line. The kid in front of him looks familiar, but Derek's seen hundreds of kids on campus the past few days, so everyone looks familiar. Derek's phone starts ringing in his pocket.He pulls it out to see Laura's name on the screen. He scowls but answers anyway.

"What." He says, the kid in front of him in line whips his head around. Derek does know him, it's the kid from his class.  The infuriating one who winked at him this morning. 

"Baby bro, that is no way to answer your phone. Didn't Mom teach you better?" Laura scolds.

"Nope, just like she didn't teach you how to not be a bitch." 

"Asshole." Laura says fondly. "Anyway, I just wanted to see how your first day has been. Have you made any freshman cry yet?" 

"That was only once!" Derek growls. He's suddenly very close to the front of the line. 

"Yet it still happened."

"Listen, Laura, as much as I love hearing from you, I really can't talk right now. I have important science-y stuff to do."

"Sure you do." she scoffs.

"Bye, Laura." Derek hangs up just in time to reach the counter and order a sandwich.

-

Derek gets back to the lab in time to hear the voice on the radio talking about an underground city beneath the book store. He spares a glare to the radio before he sits down at his desk to eat. 

Luckily, today his students ar en't as distracted and they actually get work done while listening to the radio. Derek has  another class in a few hours. An upper level lab workshop that he needed to prep for. He is  in the middle of pulling out some test tubes when the voice starts  talking about him again.

_ " Derek, perfect and beautiful, came into our studios during the break earlier but declined to stay for an interview.  He was  _ _on the phone with some girl named Laura. I wonder if they're dating._ " 

The voice does  not sound happy at all. Derek dro ps  a test tube and the sound of it shattering barely registers  through the roaring in his ears. The voice manages to break through it, though. 

" _Luckily they didn't talk long because Derek had important science-y stuff to do. He's so smart!"_   The pride in his voice was overwhelming. _"_ _ Derek hung up on her and  left in a hurry after that. He looked nervous. I've never seen that sort of look on someone with that strong of a jaw. I wanted to follow him, but then who would talk sweetly to all of you out there? " _

This man must be stalking him. How does he know so much? How could he possibly know about his phone call with Laura? He must have been in the café. Derek's mind feels  like it just got off a swirling amusement park ride. He doesn’t  even notice Isaac cleaning up the shards of glass. 

_ " Settling in to be another clear night and pretty evening here in New York . I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with. Or, at least, good memories of when you did."  _ Derek doesn't think he's imagining the wistfulness  in the voice. _ "Good night, NYU, good night. " _

"Are you alright, sir?" Boyd places a hand on Derek's shoulder. It takes all of his energy to nod. 

"Fine." He says gruffly. He cracks his neck and pushes the problem away so he can focus on what needs to be done. 

It's not until that night when Derek allows himself to remember the voice and the way his heart fluttered whenever he said his name. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the lovely feedback, I'm surprised that anyone actually enjoyed this <3 
> 
> If anyone is wondering why all of the science stuff is super vague, it's because that's how it is in WTNV and I just think it's hilarious. 
> 
> Trigger warning for mild panic attack.

Derek goes straight to his lab the next morning. He doesn't have a class  til  that afternoon and he ignores the disappointed swoop in his gut when he realizes his class is from 1:30 to 3:00. 

This time, when he gets there, it's Erica waiting for him in the hallway. The day passes slowly and his class in uneventful. Derek doesn't even realize he's searching the auditorium of students for a face with brown eyes and covered in moles until he feels the disappointment settle in his gut. 

He curses himself while simultaneously consoling himself that the class that kid is in is tomorrow. 

He returns to the lab to get some more work in before heading home and Isaac is there. He's holding a spiral notebook and a pen and is circling an experiment on one of the tables. Every few seconds he mutters to himself and jots something down. 

Derek coughs and Isaac startles. "Hey, Dr. Hale!" He says warily. Derek nods in return and goes to his desk. The radio is sitting silently a few tables away and Derek pretends not to notice it. 

"You know," Isaac starts hesitantly about fifteen minutes later. "People record that show and put it on the internet. Today's episode should probably be up by now."

Derek doesn't ask what show . Derek hums noncommittally, but when Isaac hands him a piece of paper with a web address on it before they part ways that evening, Derek makes sure to secure it safely in his wallet. 

He gets home that night and falls asleep listening to the voice rant about some racist kid on campus and rave about something called a glow cloud.

He's not disappointed that his name isn't mentioned once. He's not.

-

Derek wakes up an hour after his alarm clock was supposed to go off the next morning. He stumbles out of bed with as much speed as he can muster and he's out the door ten minutes later after a five minute shower. 

He scratches at the stubble on his face, irritated, as he throws himself into his car . He usually shaves it when he wakes up, but he didn't have the time. He ends up making it to his class with just under a minute to spare. 

Derek apologizes to his class and takes a moment to hook up his laptop to the projector. As he's waiting for the connection to register, he glances around the classroom. He's not looking for anyone, but his gaze does land on Stiles in the second row, whose eyes are even wider than normal,  his mouth gaping, and cheeks red. He i s staring quite unashamedly at Derek.

Derek ignores  the way his own mouth  goes  dry and soldiers  through the lesson with the ease of someone who had memorized all of this science stuff in his first semester of college. After class there aren't as many stragglers waiting to talk to him as the first time and Derek can't ignore the way his entire body feels lighter when he realizes that Stiles is hovering just on the outskirts of the group that surrounds Derek. 

Derek tries to answer everyone's questions, which have little to do with the subject, but more to do with the schedule and tests. It's not long before the last of them leave and only Stiles and himself are left in the classroom. Stiles looks around, like he only just realized this. Derek just looks at him expectantly. 

Stiles coughs,  rubs the back of his neck, and lopes over to the desk. 

"H- eyyy , Dr. Hale." He says, all drawn out with false bravado. 

"Stiles." Derek nods and waits. Stiles just stares . "What can I help you with?" Derek sighs at him.

"I, uh, just wanted to tell you how, uh,  _ neat _ , this all is. " Derek raises his eyebrows. Stiles coughs again. " Everything you're telling us, I mean. All this science stuff is really interesting." Stiles smiles a little wobbly. 

Derek feels the heat rush into his face. "Thank you." He says genuinely. "It's always nice to know that someone in here actually appreciates what I'm saying." Stiles laughs. 

"Yeah, well, I, uh, I have to get to my next class, but I'll see you on Friday?" It somehow comes out as question, so Derek nods. "Bye, Dr. Hale!"

"Good-bye, Stiles." Derek says and Stiles practically runs out the door. 

-

" _ The arctic is lit by the midnight sun. The surface of the moon is lit by the face of the earth. Our little city  is lit, too, by lights just above that we cannot explain.  Welcome to NYU _ _._ "

Derek can't explain why, but as soon as he hears the shitty intro music for the show, all of the tension drains out of his body. There's something different in the anticipation of hearing it live  than listening to a recorded version. 

" _ The Campus  Daily Journal has announced that they will be cutting back their publication schedule to Monday through Thursday only, due to the economic downturn and a massive decline in the literate population. The Thursday Daily Journal will now be called the Weekend Edition, a nd on Sundays, newspaper kiosks -  usually filled with important newsprint -  will be filled with 2% milk _ ." The voice echoes through the lab with all seriousness. Derek cannot quite contain his snort of amusement. 

Today, everyone is sitting around the lab  just doing their own thing . Derek couldn't really think of specific jobs for everyone and as it is so early in the semester, there are no projects that need to be handled. So when Erica asked if it was alright for her to work on her chemistry homework Derek said it was fine and Isaac and Boyd soon followed suit. Derek however, was working on making guidelines for an experiment for his lab workshop. He doesn't really bother trying to tune the radio out,  knowing it would be in vain, instead he does his best to just let it wash over him. 

" _ Let’s go to the seven-day outlook.  Your daily shades of the sky forecast:  Monday: Turquoise.  Tuesday: Taupe.  Wednesday: Robin’s egg.  Thursday: Turquoise/taupe.  Friday: Coal dust.  Saturday: Coal dust with chances of indigo in the late afternoon.  _ _Sunday: Void_. "

Derek scowls at his laptop as he realizes he forgot a crucial step in the experiment . If he hadn't noticed it, the entire building probably would have burned down. He hurries to correct his mistake.

" _ Two hawk-eyed listeners sent in reports that Derek, our curious scientific visitor, was seen with facial hair!  It's magnificently fitting with  his perfectly-shaped, brilliant head!  Listeners, I am not one to gossip ,  even if it  is  a local celebrity, but please explain to me why Derek would  strip away — decimate! — any part of his thick black hair… even if that hair was on his face and not on the top of his perfectly coifed head.  What treacherous salesman  should agree to sell a razor to him ? Who takes mere money, or even soulless joy, in depriving our small community of such a simple, but important, act as luridly admiring Derek's stunning stubble?  Reports from two intrepid sources are that it was Chris the sales clerk at the local Ralph's . Chris , who likes  sports  and has posters of guns . Chris  the sales clerk  _ _seems to be the one who betrayed our community_. "

Derek looks at the radio in alarm. Never has the voice ever had so much emotion, so much contempt, on a subject. For the first time, Derek is scared of him.

" _ It is Chris  the sales clerk at the corner of Southwest 5th Street and Old Musk Road, with the large, red, oval sign with white letters declaring "Ralphs. " Chris  is about 5’10 ” with light hair and a little stubble . He talks with condescension  and  sneers . Chris the sales clerk sold Derek a razor with which he shorn his beautiful hair. According to reports. Chris.  Now, while I gather myself, let’s have a look at traffic. _ "

"Why does it feel like he just put a hit out on someone?" Derek asks. 

"I don't know."  Erica says. Derek looks at her sharply.

"What?"

"He's never done this before." Boyd shrugs. Derek wonders if he's ever bothered by anything. He envies that a little. 

The voice on the radio has returned to his polite, non-assuming voice. Derek didn't want to push this out of his head like he did the last couple of times. He wants, instead, to find the radio host and find out who he is. He wants to demand answers. He wants to find out what exactly he sees in him because the last person who showed interest in  him never used the word "perfect" to describe him, but she could sound just as dangerous as the radio host did in his tirade. 

Derek's chest feels  heavy, like some impossible weight i s resting upon it. He sees m ore than feels his hands start to shake. He tries to focus on his breathing, staring at a shapeless blob on the wall that Boyd had spent an hour trying to clean off their first day here. He tries to reason with himself, tells himself that she's not here, that she never was, that she's thousands of miles away. He manages to get himself under control before anyone notices. 

"Dr. Hale? " Isaac prods his shoulder. Derek shakes himself. The lab is suspiciously darker than before, the radio was off, and Erica and Boyd had both returned to their homework. He checks his laptop and realizes he's been staring into space for the better part of  an hour. 

"Isaac." Derek says. 

"I'm headed home, alright? I just wanted you to know." Isaac shifted on his feet, unsure, like he expected Derek to tell him no even though Isaac's shift ended half an hour ago.

"Go ahead." Derek tries his best at a smile and Isaac seems to relax minutely. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Isaac leaves with a tiny wave and Derek makes himself finish up his own work before he leaves like he desperately wants to. 

-

When Derek gets home that night he calls his mother. 

He doesn't call her very often, usually he feels too guilty to want to talk to her. That's part of why he moved so far away to go to college. He knows his family doesn't blame him, but he can't help blaming himself, so he does his penance in whatever way he can.

When he does call her, it's always after an episode like the one he had today, after he thinks about Kate. He always feels this overwhelming need to reassure himself. To ascertain that Kate wasn't successful all those years ago. 

"Derek! I haven't heard from you in months!" Not since the time when that blonde girl hit on him at his friend's graduation party. 

"Hey, M om." Derek tries to keep his voice light, well practiced in keeping any emotional turmoil from his mother. He lets himself relax against his kitchen counter.

"How is your new job going? Have you met anyone yet?" 

"I haven't even been here a week yet, Mom." Derek sighs, but it's more playful than put-upon. "The job is great though, very, uh, science-y." 

"That's wonderful, dear! Now you have to tell me that you'll come home for Thanksgiving this year. Everyone misses you." His mother wasn't raised yesterday, she knows exactly what he's doing by avoiding the family, but she's made it clear that she doesn't like it. 

"I don't know, Mom. I'll have to see how much work I have." Derek says. He pulls a take out menu out of the drawer next to the fridge. Maybe he'll  get something out because this day has been way too long. 

"That's your excuse every year." she  tuts . "You'll have to stop beating yourself up about her sometime you know. It's not your fault that she was insane."

Derek sighs. He throws the menu back in the drawer and gets out a box of pasta. "I know." He lies.

-

That night, Derek finds the first episode of the radio show that he listened to and plays it, letting himself get lost in descriptions of himself that aren't backhanded. He dreams  about laying in bed with a faceless man curled up behind him, whispering nonsense in his ear. 


End file.
